Anybody that wants to disagree all they have to do as look at how bodybuilders get so lean.

You can't just blaim it on The Juice either. There are lots of drug free bodybuilders out there.

It amazes me how long it took the rest of the world to catch on to the low carb craze. Heck we knew this years ago it was the easiest way to shed fat.

I absolutely agree, but sometimes like a lot of things in life people have to see others doing something before they jump on board!! People are like sheep - they like to follow the flock!!
xx

Some people are not happy unless the can find the bad. With all the people losing weight how in the world can it be denied.

They use temporary low carb diets to get lean. They don't stick on them forever or they would lose muscle.

Do you also believe in the Tooth Fairy? Native Americans, before high carb diets was forced upon them, were very lean, very muscular and very healthy on a lifelong diet of low carb foods.

actually, my understanding is that weighlifters use all kinds of um, interersting, strategies to get lean. one approach, for instance is the low carb/low fat approach. basically lean protein (fish, chicken) and steamed vegetables and that's it. some like to combine that with a weekly carb-up-all high carbs and no fat-integrated into their workout plans. that is, they eat a lot of carbs, with the intention of buring it off via intense workouts. or something like that...

at any rate, the protein intake prevents the muscle loss.

you're talking about CKD -- cycling carbs to refill glycogen stores....

This is actually pretty close to the truth While bulking up, a bodybuilder might eat 3500-4500 calories per day, with a pretty high percentage of carbs. Several Cheeseburgers or a bucket of KFC would be acceptable meals, although lean meats and complex carbs would be preferred sources. The excess caloric intake is to ensure that muscle growth occurs, and the addition of a little body fat is considered an unavoidable side effect. Some pros look pretty unathletic while bulking during the off-season

At the end of the bulking cycle the individual may have gained several pounds of valuable muscle due to lifting heavy weights, plus a few pounds of body fat and water weight due to the excess calories.

At this point the bodybuilder will go into a 'cutting' cycle, where protein is maintained high (as mrfreddy pointed out) to minimize loss of muscle, and fat and carbs are reduced to help shed fat and water weight. They also use lots of OTC (and non-OTC!) supplements to increase muscle mass or reduce fat, depending on what cycle they are on.

Regardless of their techniques, you can't doubt their intense dedication and overall level of fitness.

And why isn't anyone worrying about body builders potentially harming their kidneys with 'all that protein'?

LOL, Yeah - I must have missed the news article about all the body builders dying like flies due to kidney failure

You know, all, everyone's body is so unique, it's going to respond differently. I've met and talked to a lot of people who just can't do this diet due to soaring cholesterol levels, persistent stomach upset, just to name a couple things. We all just have to find what works for us, I think that's what it boils down to and I don't think it's fair to critisize anything that works for someone just because it isn't what works for you, know what I mean?

I'm really curious about this. I've been on induction levels of carbs -for optimum health reasons not weight loss - for over two years. Every day I have more energy, better skin , fewer painful old sporting injuries. My Mum is really suspicious because she thinks low carbing is really dangerous, yet can't believe how well I look when I see her every month. Low carbing is a no brainer for me . It is obviously the way I was designed to eat. I was always really careful about what I ate before (the whole complex carb/low fat nightmare) but I was always hungry and got sick (flu, colds etc. just like everyone). I haven't been ill since I started ditched the carbs. Everytime I hear some talking head rabbiting on about how important a food group carbohydrate is I just chuckle.
Anyway I was a real gym junkie before low carb (usually twice a week -weights/cardio), because otherwise I very quickly lost all muscle tone and lost weight. I noticed within a couple of months of replacing almost all the complex carbs I used to eat with fat ( and most of that saturated) that I seemed to be putting on muscle really easily. I've never wanted to be musclebound , just fit and strong looking ,so I started to cut down on the intensity of the workouts. Now I never go to the gym. But I'm still very gradually putting on muscle. I still do 20 proper pushups a couple of times a week and I do plenty of yard work.
I'm sure cyclic ketogenic diets work and probably are the quickest way to pile on the muscle, particularly if you're not prepared to teach your body to be really happy with just fat (even for really high intensity exercise), because it admittedly takes a long time. Heck it's taken me two years and I don't think I've even come close to the true long term health and physique benefits. But I think carb 'refeeds' are stressful for your metabolism and completely unnecessary if you just want to be strong and fit. It's taken me the whole 2 years to feel as well as I do now and I wouldn't go back to carbohydrate metabolism if you paid me.
I have no idea why I build moderate muscle apparently without even trying. My own personal theory , for what it's worth, is that prolonged severe carbohydrate restriction has made my endocrine system so healthy that I've restored normal production of human growth hormone.

So I'm not saying that C.K.D diets don't work, but in my experience anyway, the theory that ditching the carbs long term necessarily causes muscle loss
is hogwash. Or maybe just a plot to keep up gym memberships
cheers